Dentists recall time spent in Haiti pre-earthquake

Keri Bugenhagen

Wednesday

Jan 20, 2010 at 12:01 AMJan 20, 2010 at 8:18 PM

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake left an already economically devastated Republic of Haiti in unimaginable ruins. An Iowa dentist and his father, who have visited the country multiple times to provide dental care through the Christian Dental Society, share their sobering thoughts, trying to put the situation into perspective.

On Tuesday, Jan. 12, a magnitude 7.0 earthquake left an already economically devastated Republic of Haiti in unimaginable ruins.

An Iowa dentist and his father, who have visited the country multiple times to provide dental care through the Christian Dental Society, share their sobering thoughts, trying to put the situation into perspective.

Jeff Haw, D.M.D. and his father, Dr. Richard Haw, D.D.S. of Cresco Family Dentistry, spent many a summer in Haiti, beginning when Jeff Haw was only about 10 years old. He says he owes the experiences he had in the country — along with the county’s people who made a lasting impression on him as a young boy — for helping him become who he is today.

“The biggest thing is that we can’t really comprehend the situation,” Jeff Haw said. “They definitely have been accustomed to disasters like tropical storms, but I don’t think anything can compare to this magnitude.”

Haiti is situated on the western third of the second largest island in the Caribbean, and on the eastern two-thirds sits the Dominican Republic. The country suffers from a vast level of poverty and is considered the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Richard Haw says the average income is about $100 a year and that many of the country’s children suffer from illiteracy because in order to attend school, a uniform is necessary, and most families cannot afford one for their children.

“It’s been said so many times, but it’s true: Imagine that people who had nothing now have less than nothing,” said Jeff Haw, who worries about the many faces he remembers from the days when he was in Haiti. “Some of our acquaintances we maybe didn’t even know more than their first names, but the people there have a way of really getting to you, getting under your skin. There’s something compelling about their faces, and maybe that’s because we’re dentists.”

Jeff Haw says he felt devastated when he heard the news that an earthquake had hit Haiti.

“I knew immediately, we recognized the minute we heard, the magnitude of what this meant,” he said. “[The earthquake] hit the capital city, where all the resources are — everything from food to fuel to health care is severely damaged, and so far, we’re just hearing about the capital city. We haven’t even considered all the other places [that may have been affected]. I think in the next days to weeks, we’ll start finding and hearing that a lot more has been lost.”

For Jeff Haw, it’s difficult to grasp everything that has been lost.

“There’s so much rich history that’s gone. Their palace was really a striking structure — a point of pride — all reduced to rubble,” he said. “We think about the people we encountered there. There’s an ‘Edward,’ a friend who was about my age. Over the years, we learned he became a police officer -- you wonder about people like that.”

Jeff Haw says he heard that about 800 people working through Doctors Without Borders were missing, and many people will now need to deal with secondary infections resulting from their injuries.

“I think at this point, it really comes down to money, and whether that be [from donations] through the Red Cross, churches or other organizations,” he said. “At this point, I’ve had different people say, well, clothing drives and that, and maybe that kind of thing will be needed later, but right now, to get things to this place, it will have to be a military operation, because anybody going into the country for the next number of months will need to be 100 percent self-sufficient.”

The last time Jeff Haw and his father visited Haiti was in the late 1980s, and although they have been in touch with people there and have sent supplies through a dental mission to Haiti along with other countries in need, they have not been able to return.

Recently, Jeff Haw’s family had been proposing plans to head back to Haiti late this next summer. Now, whether this trip will be possible or not remains to be seen.

“It’s going to be quite a while before the country can take volunteers, before resources won’t be drained,” said Jeff Haw, adding that it’s a watching and waiting game, and that it’s not a matter of “if” he’ll head back, but “when.”

“I think both my father and I can say that Haiti holds a special place in our hearts,” said Jeff Haw.

Jeff Haw says that the Haws, along with Cresco Family Dentistry, are planning to begin collecting medical supplies and raising monetary donations for Haiti.

“This is something that is so long-term that people need to give money now, but there also needs to be a plan for the future,” he said. “This is something the Haitian people needed 30 years ago … this will be something that the Haitian people will need for decades to come.”

The American Red Cross and the Salvation Army are both collecting donations for the struggling country, and so are countless other organizations. Donations can be made to the American Red Cross International Response Fund by calling 1-800-RED-CROSS or by visiting their Web site at www.redcross.org. Donations can also be made to the Salvation Army through their Emergency Disaster Services by visiting www.salvationarmyusa.org, or by texting “Haiti” to 52000 to donate $10 from your mobile device.

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